Malaysia, France sign accord

Malaysia, France sign accord

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysia yesterday signed an agreement with a French government-backed agency to promote the transfer of French technology and encourage joint ventures between companies in the two countries.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) replaces a seven-year bilateral economic cooperation agreement that expired at the end of last year and which had yielded mixed results, officials said.

Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz and her visiting French counterpart, Jacques Dondoux, witnessed the signing of the MOU by the heads of the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA) and France's Agency for the International Promotion of French Technology and Trade (CFME-ACTIM).

"We hope more French businesses will come and invest in Malaysia," Rafidah said at the signing ceremony.